This Makkah Pact reminds me of the six blind men of Indostan who went to see an elephant. Its full text is still not public, but everyone has their own definitive opinion on what its purpose is.
Turkiye thinks it will contain Greece, even though Greek Patriot batteries are currently defending Saudi Arabia against missile and drone attacks.
The regime in Pakistan thinks it will contain India, even though Saudi Arabia has friendly ties with India and their investments and trade with India are orders of magnitude higher.
Then there is the Israel bogey, even though Israel has never ever attacked any of the signatories where each of the three countries has faced attacks from Iran no earlier than at least 2024.
What is beyond dispute is that Saudi Arabia is that both Pakistan and Turkey are facing economic struggles and Saudi Arabia is struggling with ongoing security threats emanating from Iran and the American security guarantee has proved insufficient.
For all the talk about ummah chummah , each country is in it for itself. Turkiye and Pakistan don't really want to destabilise their own security situation or go to war for the Saudis, but they want Saudi funding for their defence and economy, in general. Saudi Arabia doesn't want to jeopardise its relationships with Greece and India and even a possible rapprochement with Israel sometime in the future, once Netanyahu is out of the picture, but they want to fill the gaps in their security and to force Iran and its allies to stop attacking them and their oil routes.
Now, as far as Bangladesh is concerned, they do have a history of exporting security services though the United Nations, and, Saudi Arabia has learnt from the experience with America, not to put all their eggs in one basket. So, they as the main financier should be happy to host Bangladeshi troops as much as those from Pakistan, especially since Bangladesh , being geographically distant, doesn't have the same sensitivity about getting involved in a conflict with Iran as Pakistan does.
Now, of course, there is also geopolitical signalling from signing a pact and , as long as Bangladesh is willing to face the consequences, they have as much right to export their security services as anyone else. However, they should be realistic in their assessment that this is Saudi-funded security arrangement and not expect intervention on their behalf against Myanmar or India.
Turkiye thinks it will contain Greece, even though Greek Patriot batteries are currently defending Saudi Arabia against missile and drone attacks.
The regime in Pakistan thinks it will contain India, even though Saudi Arabia has friendly ties with India and their investments and trade with India are orders of magnitude higher.
Then there is the Israel bogey, even though Israel has never ever attacked any of the signatories where each of the three countries has faced attacks from Iran no earlier than at least 2024.
What is beyond dispute is that Saudi Arabia is that both Pakistan and Turkey are facing economic struggles and Saudi Arabia is struggling with ongoing security threats emanating from Iran and the American security guarantee has proved insufficient.
For all the talk about ummah chummah , each country is in it for itself. Turkiye and Pakistan don't really want to destabilise their own security situation or go to war for the Saudis, but they want Saudi funding for their defence and economy, in general. Saudi Arabia doesn't want to jeopardise its relationships with Greece and India and even a possible rapprochement with Israel sometime in the future, once Netanyahu is out of the picture, but they want to fill the gaps in their security and to force Iran and its allies to stop attacking them and their oil routes.
Now, as far as Bangladesh is concerned, they do have a history of exporting security services though the United Nations, and, Saudi Arabia has learnt from the experience with America, not to put all their eggs in one basket. So, they as the main financier should be happy to host Bangladeshi troops as much as those from Pakistan, especially since Bangladesh , being geographically distant, doesn't have the same sensitivity about getting involved in a conflict with Iran as Pakistan does.
Now, of course, there is also geopolitical signalling from signing a pact and , as long as Bangladesh is willing to face the consequences, they have as much right to export their security services as anyone else. However, they should be realistic in their assessment that this is Saudi-funded security arrangement and not expect intervention on their behalf against Myanmar or India.




